I've said this every time I've discussed GSD, but I was always under the impression that Shinn was supposed to develop into a more likable character over the course of the show (similar to Kamille since it was taking so much from Zeta Gundam anyway, and arguably Shinn's pissy attitude is more understandable than Kamille's was) and they ended up doing...well, what they did with the show.

The movie essentially making Athrun the main character of GSD just exemplified one of the major problems I had with GSD, which was that it was all about making popular self-insert characters look awesome instead of actually trying to write anything good.

I think they tried to make the opposite of Kira Jesus Yamato by making a lead fueled by hatred who does not shy from war.There was also a lot of experimentation with hero / anti-hero + siding with the devil but those traits just ended up clashing against the typical shounen lead traits.Meaning the character had all the faults found in common shounen heroes, but also, due to the experimentation, wasn't working for what is perceived as 'good' to excuse the faults.(i.e. the difference between Shinn and Naruto is that Naruto at least works for global 'good')

Another big "faux pas" is him being disrespectful to EVERYONE from the first serie. That is plain character suicide considering GSD exists because of GS.A good example of what happens when you piss on your predecessor would be Jay Wilson.

I'm guessing you're just making a genre-savvy joke, but the fact that Shinn hated the first series' characters and ORB in particular was one of the dynamics I was hoping they'd expand on. One of the problems I had with Gundam SEED is that it's written in an extremely naive fashion where supermen come along and basically forced people to get along at gunpoint. Instead of examining this idea further they just went straight and stuck with the "Kira and Lacus are right and that's pretty much it" attitude. Kira basically has no ideological struggle in the entirety of GSD, and Athrun mopes around until he ends up right back where he was at the end of SEED (So basically he just goes through the same damn arc again).

But putting aside every complaint I have about characters and whatnot, what I found most insulting about the show was how lazy it was. Those last 20 or so episodes especially stuck out to me- all that time was spent doing almost nothing until an eleventh hour reveal of a complete irrelevancy and then a big dumb blow stuff up ending that was a weak imitation of the SEED ending. I just got the impression they weren't even trying at all.

Z/X lost some steam this week IMO, Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions was much better, Nagi no Asukara was really good and Silver Spoon will be watched in an hour or so....so far good week overall, and cannot wait for Kuroko's Basketball 2 in 1 day 17 hours 17 minutes and counting, lol

I read the first volume of the Sword Art Online manga, and it was pretty good!

I have now started watching the anime. MISTAKE. First episode was fine, but the second episode... I felt embarrassed watching it. I don't know which is more accurate to the original novels, but it was nothing even remotely like the manga. In the anime, Asuna is some nobody with a bit of skill, which is very different from the manga, and Kirito is, uh, odd.

But, what bothered me most of all, was it takes the same approach other MMO-animes have done: the MMO aspects make no sense. Obviously I'm approaching this as someone who, like lots of you guys, have played many MMOs. Many of the mechanics described in SAO just make zero sense. It's frustrating.

If any of that changes, feel free to let me know, but otherwise, I think I'll stop watching.

I just got Battle Angel Alita: Last Order Omnibus 3 in the mail today and am reading it. The Battle Angel Alita stuff is great (it is my favorite manga series after all) but what I really love in these omnibuses are the non-Battle Angel manga Kishiro has done. It's cool to see how his art style evolved. He's undoubtedly my favorite mangaka.

I haven't really been watching anime lately. Even when I do want to watch it, I want to watch older series I may have missed like Blue Seed, Golden Boy, or something. Particularly 1990s stuff since that's my taste. I haven't watched anything newer than Lucky Star, some of Detroit Metal City, and K-On! season 1. I have no desire to watch K-On!! season 2, because I felt that season 1 capped off nicely and I hear season 2 kinda sucks.

I must be getting old, since I'm starting to get a little jaded that the new stuff just ain't as good as "back in the day" stuff. (aside: even in conventional cinema, 99% of movies were better back in the day, though the superhero genre is a million times better now than it was back in the day.)

Character wise, Asuna feels far more impressive after the first few episodes, as does Kirito and most of the other players. Honestly, it felt very mmo-ish in terms of newbies being dopey and such, and Kirito feels like a simple nerd at first. It really does improve after the first couple of episodes though, so bear with it. It's the second half of the season that offends most people since certain characters kind of get dropped to a useless status.

Speaking of SAO, season 2 was confirmed a few weeks ago, anyone else somewhat excited?

GGO (Gun Gale Online) was probably one of my favorite arcs in the books, actually, so I'll probably watch it. A lot of people seem to dislike it, though. It's a pretty significant departure for the series.

I read the first volume of the Sword Art Online manga, and it was pretty good!

I have now started watching the anime. MISTAKE. First episode was fine, but the second episode... I felt embarrassed watching it. I don't know which is more accurate to the original novels, but it was nothing even remotely like the manga. In the anime, Asuna is some nobody with a bit of skill, which is very different from the manga, and Kirito is, uh, odd.

But, what bothered me most of all, was it takes the same approach other MMO-animes have done: the MMO aspects make no sense. Obviously I'm approaching this as someone who, like lots of you guys, have played many MMOs. Many of the mechanics described in SAO just make zero sense. It's frustrating.

If any of that changes, feel free to let me know, but otherwise, I think I'll stop watching.

It gets worse. The big thing I came away with out of SAO: the Anime was watching Kirito and Asuna's relationship develop into a full on family unit. After the first half though, the rest of the show is a massive train wreck that briefly turns into a bad hentai at the end.

I don't know how it compares to the manga/light novel, but for the anime, I'd rate it just (and I mean 'just') above Blood+ in terms of watch-ability.

That said, Kill la Kill ep 18. RAGYO WINS! FATALITY! (Also: Welp.)

SAO. Okay. Now this is over. Not that we really needed an episode of Kirito vanquishing the villain a second time, his singlehandedly saving the MMO industry, or seeing what the rest of his pals/harem are up to. Up next will be....Blue Exorcist? Really!? I think I will straight up skip this, especially if the preview was anything to go by.